


5. I'll walk you home

by loumillerlesbian



Series: 100 ways to say I love you [2]
Category: Ocean's 8 (2018)
Genre: Debbie just wants to take care of Lou, F/F, Mutual Pining, Pre-Canon, Sharing a Bed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-31
Updated: 2018-07-31
Packaged: 2019-06-19 13:58:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,624
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15511389
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/loumillerlesbian/pseuds/loumillerlesbian
Summary: "Debbie finds that she likes this, walking quietly next to Lou, their arms brushing against each other every few steps.She definitely likes it better than watching Lou get herself into a bar fight with two guys because she has that goddamn savior complex and the second she sees a girl being pestered, she’s practically running to help her."





	5. I'll walk you home

**Author's Note:**

> This turned out longer than I thought it would and I really wanted to finally put it out there so I might look at it again later and edit if I find any mistakes or anything, but for now, enjoy!
> 
> And thanks to my fam in the HeistWives group chat for the constant encouragement and input you've given me, you're the best!

“I’ll walk you home, get up.”

Lou almost laughs at Debbie trying to pick her up, but barely manages a short huff before bringing her hand up to her face and wincing. The cut on her face isn’t deep but it hurts like hell and apparently it gets worse when she attempts to laugh.

“Come on, you idiot," Debbie chuckles, lightly nudging her side instead. “Let’s get you out of here.”

With a roll of her eyes, Lou stands up next to her and hands the ice pack that rested on the knuckles of her right hand back to the bar tender, giving him a short nod and a half-smile, careful to not move the injured part of her face too much. Debbie knows Lou doesn’t want to be pitied, but she can’t help the concerned look she gives her as Lou winces while moving to put on her suit jacket.

“Do you want me to help you?” Debbie offers, receiving a death glare as an answer.

“I’m fine, Debbie. It’s warm enough outside anyways, I don’t need to wear this," Lou says, shrugging the jacket off of the one arm she already put it on and draping it over said arm instead. It’s a poor excuse to cover up the fact that Lou’s shoulder probably hurts too much because the mild temperatures would not usually be enough for Lou to forgo her jacket, but she doesn't comment on it.

Instead, she thanks the bartender again and turns to leave, looking over her shoulder to make sure Lou follows her.

“Let’s go," she calls to her and sees Lou roll her eyes again as she catches up with her in a few long strides. The kick to her shin doesn’t seem to have done any damage to Lou. She picks up her usual pace easily and doesn’t limp, but Debbie still reminds herself to keep an eye on it.

They make it to the next corner in silence before Lou stops, turning to Debbie. “You really don’t need to do this, Debbie, I’m fine.” She gestures at herself, trying to prove her point. “Just go home and sleep, I can take care of myself.”

“Yeah, I’ve seen that”, Debbie laughs, amused at Lou’s stubbornness and at the look of annoyance that flashes over Lou’s face at her words. “Look, as much as I love it when you put men in their place, I don’t want to risk you getting yourself punched in the face _again_.” Debbie puts some extra emphasis on the last word, carefully touching her fingers to the cut on Lou’s face. “And I think I should give this a closer look, to make sure it doesn’t need stitching.”

Lou rolls her eyes, but suddenly a smug smile forms on her lips. “So, you like to see me punching guys in the face?” She waggles her eyebrows excessively and in that moment, Debbie wants nothing more than to kiss that damn grin off her lips. But that isn’t them, she tells herself. They flirt, they laugh about it, they go home separately. Except when Lou indulged her compulsive need to break up fights, apparently.

Lou just chuckles and starts walking again, leaving Debbie a little dumbfounded before she catches on and follows her. Lou’s long legs give her a slight advantage but she’s not actually trying to get away from Debbie and Debbie catches up to her after a few meters, her right arm brushing against Lou’s left one as she walks up next to her. “You’re not getting rid of me that easily," she reminds the blonde, catching herself thinking about just how true those words are. They have known each other for barely a year and yet Debbie feels like she can’t live without her anymore.

They make the rest of the way to Lou’s apartment in silence. It’s not too far away from the bar and the walk only lasts five minutes, but Debbie secretly wishes it would last longer. She finds that she likes this, walking quietly next to Lou, their arms brushing against each other every few steps. Likes it more than daring Lou to do stupid shit when they’re drunk, maybe even more than successfully finishing a job. Maybe.

She definitely likes it better than watching Lou get herself into a bar fight with two guys because she has that goddamn savior complex and the second she sees a girl being pestered, she’s practically running to help her. It’s honorable, really, and Debbie admires the way Lou will stand up not just for herself but also for others who need help, but damn her if she wishes Lou wouldn’t do it. It’s definitely not the first time Lou interjected in a conflict or jumped in to make sure a woman was okay while they’ve known each other, and it isn’t even the first time that punches were thrown. However, it _is_ the first time Lou took significant damage. And as much as Debbie may enjoy seeing her showcasing her fighting skills – yes, it was hot, she had to admit – she doesn’t enjoy seeing Lou take punches from two guys with a few inches on her. Lou had still managed to come out on top, though with a little help from the bartender, but still. Debbie had little ambition to witness anything similar anytime soon.

When Lou stops abruptly to fumble for her keys in the pocket of her jacket, Debbie is brought back to herself just as abruptly and Lou gives her a weird look, eyebrows raised, when it takes Debbie a second to realize that she walked a few steps further than Lou. With a shrug, Debbie turns back towards Lou and follows her into the old building.

Four stories later – and Debbie will never stop cursing the lack of an elevator – Lou shoves open the door to her apartment with her right shoulder and immediately whimpers as the forgotten pain in her shoulder flares up again.

“Are you alright?”, Debbie questions, looking concerned as she follows Lou in and closes the door behind her blindly, her eyes fixed on Lou.

“Yes, Debbie, I’m fine!” Lou insists, a little more pointed than necessary. She mentally kicks herself, not having meant to sound so harsh. It’s not like she doesn’t appreciate Debbie’s concern, she simply doesn’t like feeling weak and that is exactly what Debbie’s worried looks and soft words and light touches do to her. It makes her feel like she can let go and she knows she shouldn’t.

With a frustrated sigh, Lou turns around to face Debbie, the apology written across her face before it leaves her mouth. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean that.” She takes deep breath. “I mean, I _am_ fine, but I… I didn’t mean to push you away like that.” Lou sinks onto the couch, letting her head fall back and closing her eyes.

She hears Debbie’s footsteps approaching before feeling Debbie drop onto the couch next to her, just barely leaving enough space between them so they don’t touch. “I told you you’re not getting rid of me that easily”, Debbie reminds her, her voice soft. Then, Lou feels fingers touch her cheek, Debbie’s thumb gently stroking around the cut on her cheek bone. “You know, this might turn into a black eye, honey," Debbie points out. “Don’t know if that’s such a good look for you though, as much as you seem to love your eyeliner.” Lou opens her eyes and turns her head to give Debbie an annoyed look, meeting brown eyes that look at her with a lot more tenderness than Lou expected.

She looks away again, but Debbie’s hand stays on her face, moving to cup her jaw and brushing over the small cut on her lip and Lou feels her heart race. The hand falls from her face quickly and Lou releases a breath she didn’t realize she’d been holding when Debbie gets up from the couch and moves to the kitchen. Lou hears the fridge being opened and some things being moved before it’s closed again and Debbie reappears into her field of vision, holding up a bottle of beer in one hand. “I couldn’t find any ice in there – or even frozen food, for gods sake Lou, do you only ever eat take-out?”

"I do nothing but cook all day, why would I come home and keep doing it," Lou shrugs, and accepts the bottle Debbie hands her and holds it against her cheek, grimacing as the cold glass makes contact with the injured skin. It stings a bit at first, but then she feels the chill come through and closes her eyes for a second, the burning pain subsiding.

“Better?” Debbie asks from beside her, and she nods in response, smiling up at Debbie from under her fringe.

“Do you want to get ready for bed then? We should still rinse the wound though, better safe than sorry, right?” Debbie doesn’t even really look for confirmation from Lou, just holds out her hand to pull Lou up off the couch – by her left hand, she reminds her – she doesn’t want to put unnecessary stress on Lou’s obviously hurting right shoulder.

Lou leads her into the small bedroom and points her over to the bathroom while she sits down on the bed, lights the small bedside lamp and begins to take off her shoes. Debbie quickly finds the wash cloth and wets it in the sink before going back to the bedroom. She finds Lou tugging at her shirt with one arm, pants already on the floor.

“Let me help you with that," Debbie offers, hanging the wash cloth over the bed frame and hurrying over to Lou’s side to assist her. There’s surprisingly no resistance coming from Lou, who simply drops the shirt hem and holds her arms up as far as her injured shoulder will allow. Debbie carefully tugs at the hem, brushing the soft skin at Lou’s back for a split second before moving the fabric up and working it slowly over her head and off her arms.

She holds the shirt up, smiling down at Lou. “There you go.”

Lou smiles back, taking the shirt from her and throwing it over a chair in the corner before moving to unhook her bra. Debbie quickly turns out around, for some reason scared to intrude on Lou’s privacy, and hears Lou chuckle behind her. “Scared you won’t be able to keep your hands to yourself, Ocean?” Lou teases, and Debbie rolls her eyes.

“Sorry for trying to grant you some privacy”, she retorts, but doesn’t turn around.

Only when Lou taps on her shoulder does she look at her again, now clad in a shirt Debbie guesses is at least three sizes too big for her. “Are you still gonna treat that cut on my face, or have I worn you down?” Lou points at the wet cloth at the foot of the bed and Debbie turns around fully, walking over and picking it up.

She sits down on the bed and motions for Lou to do the same before gently tilting her chin up a little towards her and touching the cloth to the cut on her cheek. “Okay?”

She gets an encouraging smile from Lou and carefully dabs over the wound and the bruise around it. A quiet “ouch” leaves Lou’s lips when she presses a little too hard and she flinches, instinctively moving away. Lou catches her wrist and moves it back to her face, ignoring the pain. “Keep going.”

Debbie softly moves the cloth over her cheek again, moves to her browbone to clean the spatter of blood there, probably from when Lou had landed a particularly vicious punch to the one guy’s nose. She chuckles quietly, somewhat incredulous that Lou had managed to take down two guys at the same time, despite having witnessed it first-hand.

“What are you laughing about, Ocean?” Lou turns to her again, her tone teasing but an honest question written in her eyes. Debbie moves down to her chin to gently dab at the cut on her lip before dropping her hand into her lap, eyes cast down before looking back at Lou again.

“Oh, nothing. I just can’t believe you actually got yourself into a fight with two guys and _won_.” She sees the corners of Lou’s lips curl upwards, a true and genuine smile spreading on her face. It only lasts a second before Lou breaks out her typical smug grin.

“I’m a woman of many talents”, she quips, and Debbie laughs despite herself.

“I can’t wait to find out more about those, then," she replies, her voice teasing. “I hope one of them is going to sleep quickly, because it’s already” – She glances at her watch – “quarter to four, and I remember you saying something about an early shift tomorrow?”

Lou groans and rolls her eyes and Debbie wonders if they would ever get stuck with how often Lou does that, and she gives her a pat on her – non-injured – shoulder. “You should really sleep.”

She moves to get up and freezes when she feels Lou’s hand on her wrist, pulling her back. “Do you want to stay? It’s late, as you said, and this is pretty far from your place…” Lou trails off, letting go of Debbie’s wrist and looking at the wall in front of her. “I mean, you don’t have to, I don’t have spare bed anyways, it’s just –“

She’s interrupted by Debbie, who’s gotten over her initial surprise. “I would, if you don’t mind. Do you have spare clothes I could borrow, though?”

There’s a flood of relief washing over Lou’s features that’s gone as quick as it came, and she gets up and walks towards the closet and pulls out a shirt. “Do you want pants as well? I gotta dig deeper for those though.”

Debbie shakes her head, in the process of pulling off her pants when Lou throws the shirt at her. “Hey!”, she complains, catching it last minute before the shirt could hit her right in the face. “That’s not fair!”

Lou just laughs, and Debbie continues undressing, watching Lou move under the covers on the left side of the bed. She pulls her shirt off and turns around to take her bra off, blindly grabbing for the shirt that’s still where she put it down onto the bed. After some awkward fumbling she finds it and picks it up and pulls it over her head, turning back around the face Lou, who’s already snuggled into the covers. _She looks fucking adorable like this_ , Debbie thinks to herself, and almost laughs when she realizes that she described Lou as adorable. Lou may be many things, but ‘adorable’ is typically not one of them.

There’s a short hesitation in her movements before she climbs onto the bed next to Lou, pulling the covers back just enough to slide under them and tucking herself in.

Lou rolls onto her side to turn off the lamp, the only light in the room falling through the window from a streetlamp across the street. It’s enough to make out Lou’s face in the dark next to her, eyes already closed and blanket pulled up to her chin. “Never thought I’d see you this calm," Debbie whispers, the words leaving her mouth faster than she can think about it.

She hears Lou snort next to her and feels her own heart beat faster. This is bad, she thinks to herself, and throws that thought out the second it forms because no, this is Lou. It may be a bad idea but she’d be damned if they hadn’t indulged a few of those together already.

**Author's Note:**

> comments fuel the author, let me know what you think!


End file.
